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Vale: Tony Barry

Veteran actor best known for The Time of Our Lives, The Dismissal, Paper Giants, Newsfront, The Odd Angry Shot, has died.

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Veteran actor Tony Barry, best known for The Time of Our Lives, The Dismissal, Paper Giants, Newsfront,  The Odd Angry Shot, has died aged 81.

He passed away yesterday and was recently working until shortly before his death.

Barry had a prolific career of nearly 60 feature films and over 45 television series, a member of Equity for over 50 years. He received the 2014 Film Critics Circle of Australia award for his “extraordinary contribution to the Australian film industry.”

According to IMDb his first credit was in Skippy the Bush Kangaroo in 1968 followed by 70s classics Certain Women, Matlock Police, Homicide, The Box, Luke’s Kingdom, Power without Glory, Bluey, Chopper Squad, Cop Shop, The Sullivans, Patrol Boat.

In the 80s were I Can Jump Puddles, Young Ramsay, Secret Valley, The Dismissal, Scales of Justice, Five Mile Creek, The Cowra Breakout, Shout!, Mother & Son, Cyclone Tracy, Fields of Fire, The Flying Doctors, GP, A Country Practice, followed in the 90s by Heartland, Police Rescue, Snowy River: The McGregor Saga, City Life, Wildside, Blue Heelers, Stingers, Water Rats.

Since 2000 there was Halifax FP, Heroes Mountain, Blackjack, Frontline, Grass Roots, All Saints, Hell has Harbour Views, Dirt Game, Paper Giants, Wild Boys, Rake.

Major Australian films include The Mango Tree, Newsfront, The Odd Angry Shot, Hard Knocks, We of the Never Never, Shame, The Coca-Cola Kid, Return to Snowy River, Beyond Reasonable Doubt, Road to Nhill, Paperback Hero, Mullet The Night We Called It a Day and Australia.

There were also NZ screen credits,Goodbye Pork Pie, and Home by Christmas.

In The Time of Our Lives he played patriarch Ray Tivolli alongside Sue Jones. Between seasons he had his left leg amputated above the knee due to melanoma, with the loss of his leg written into the storyline and continuing to work.

His more recent credits have included Total Control, The End, Harrow, and an upcoming role in the film Seriously Red.

His death is being reported internationally, including on Hollywood Reporter.

Artists and industry are paying tribute on social media.

 

 

3 Responses

  1. I don’t think I am being unkind in saying he was never a lead actor, but he was always a superb supporting character actor. Every character he inhabited he brought that crabby Australianess to it that brought it to life and made it believable.

    He existed at at time when we were pumping out many fine, under-rated, Australian movies and Tony was a big part in many of them.

    Vale

  3. Great actor. Sturdy and powerful in character. I was gobsmacked to read at the time that his amputation had been written into that series. I couldn’t work out how they did it. He had such a long and distinguished career. For me, his finest work was in ‘Shame’, playing Simone Buchanan’s Dad.

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